A federal judge in California has ordered an extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 60,000 migrants from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua, halting efforts by the Trump administration to end the program for those groups.
TPS, a humanitarian measure administered by the Department of Homeland Security, allows nationals from countries experiencing war, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to live and work legally in the United States without fear of deportation.
The court’s decision preserves protections for an estimated 7,000 Nepalese, whose status was due to expire on August 5, as well as 51,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans, whose protections were set to end on September 8. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had previously announced that these countries had made “significant progress” in recovering from past disasters, including 1998’s Hurricane Mitch, and therefore no longer warranted continued protection.
The ruling comes amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to phase out TPS across the board. In recent months, the administration has terminated protections for hundreds of thousands of people from countries like Venezuela, Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Cameroon, sparking multiple legal battles.
Legal and Political Clash
Attorneys representing the National TPS Alliance argued that Secretary Noem’s decisions were politically motivated and not based on an impartial assessment of conditions in the countries involved. “They gave them two months to leave the country. It’s awful,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, one of the attorneys challenging the terminations in court this week.
The government maintains that the secretary has full discretion under the law to determine who qualifies for TPS and that changes in eligibility reflect the administration’s broader immigration and foreign policy goals. “This program is not meant to be permanent,” said Justice Department attorney William Weiland, defending the administration’s actions in court.
Under the law, TPS can only be granted when returning migrants to their home countries would pose a serious threat to their safety—such as during times of civil unrest or environmental catastrophe. Critics say the administration has weaponized the program by cutting protections without offering reasonable timelines or due process.
The judge’s ruling allows current TPS recipients from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua to stay in the U.S. for now, but the legal fight over the future of the program is far from over.
